Why ‘green crackers’ are deceptive and dangerous

The battle to ban crackers has raged for three decades — from classroom campaigns to online petitions to courtroom battles.

- Bhavreen Kandhari

“Our lungs have not yet fully developed and we cannot take further pollution through bursting of crackers,” was the statement of three toddlers in their petition before the Supreme Court in 2015, seeking a ban on firecrackers. It was perhaps the first time that the country truly heard its youngest citizens speak the language of survival.

And then, after decades of resistance, in 2021 it was accepted that crackers are toxic at every level - of production, storage and use. For many who had been part of this movement, it felt like justice had found breath again. We hoped the next step would be clear - courts and governments would question whether crackers should exist at all. We hoped that by now, this argument would be behind us, that governments, corporations, and citizens alike would recognise that true progress lies in clean air, clean water, and collective well-being. But unfortunately, that didn’t happen.